Sheffield’s bridge over the River Don wins approval

Richard Blackledge

A new bridge is to be built spanning the waterway at Kelham Island after plans were approved.

Sheffield Council has given the green light to the Upper Don Walk Trust’s proposals for a crossing over the Kelham Goyt - the man-made channel which carried water from the River Don to power machinery - linking up the former Green Lane Works and the Kelham Island Museum.

The new bridge is intended to provide pedestrians and cyclists with a better route from Ball Street to the museum, as well as offering views of wildlife and the works, which are being converted and extended to create apartments, offices and a café bar.

Approving the plans, council officers said the crossing would offer a ‘more direct and safer route, not only as part of the Upper Don Walk but also within the Kelham Island area in general’.

The existing route of the Upper Don Walk, which runs from Beeley Wood near Middlewood to Lady’s Bridge in the city centre, crosses a bridge from Ball Street before coming to a dead end.

Walkers then have to re-trace their steps before rejoining the riverside trail next to the museum.

Officers added that the 20-metre long steel bridge will have a ‘simple, contemporary appearance’. There were no objections to the plans.

In its application, the trust said the bridge’s deck would be engraved with the names of supporters.

There have been two previous applications to create an Upper Don Walk bridge at Kelham. In 2002 and 2006 plans for suspension bridges were approved, but the projects did not come to fruition.